Fuel pump register with expanded readout

ABSTRACT

Register conversion means for modifying the volume and/or cost counters of a fuel pump register for expanding the available readout of the volume counter from 99 9/10 gallons to 149 9/10 gallons and the available readout of the cost counter from $9.99 to $14.99 and which comprises a substitute highest order number wheel bearing the sequence of indicia of 0-14 and having a 30tooth drive gear, a substitute compound transfer gear with relatively large and small eight-tooth gears respectively engageable with the drive gear of the substitute number wheel and the combination locking ring and two-tooth transfer segment of the adjacent lower order number wheel for indexing the substitute wheel one count for each revolution of the adjacent lower order number wheel, and an auxiliary window mask for the substitute wheel.

United States Patent [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee Nov. 10,1969 Nov. 9, 1971 Veeder Industries Inc. Hartford, Conn.

[54] FUEL PUMP REGISTER WITH EXPANDED 114, 1 i5, 108, 144 SM, 133

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,829,833 4/1958 Carbonara235/1 15 2,932,448 4/1960 Bliss 235/144 3,495,396 2/1970 Funaki 58/19Primary Examiner- Stephen J. Tomsky Auorney- Prutzman, Hayes, Kalb 5Chilton ABSTRACT: Register conversion means for modifying the volumeand/or cost counters of a fuel pump register for expanding the availablereadout of the volume counter from 99 9/10 gallons to 149 9/10 gallonsand the available readout of the cost counter from $9.99 to $14.99 andwhich comprises a substitute highest order number wheel bearing thesequence of indicia of 0-14 and having a 30-tooth drive gear, asubstitute compound transfer gear with relatively large and smalleight-tooth gears respectively engageable with the drive gear of thesubstitute number wheel and the combination locking ring and two-toothtransfer segment of the adjacent lower order number wheel for indexingthe substitute wheel one count for each revolution of the adjacent lowerorder number wheel, and an auxiliary window mask for the substitutewheel.

I F/G/ "PATENTEDNuv 9 I97! 3,618,852

SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTORS WILLIAM KES LAWRENCE E. HOUGH BY 727M,

ATTORN EYS FUEL PUMP REGISTER WITH EXPANDED READOUT BRIEF SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates generally to resettableregisters of the type employed in fuel dispensing apparatus forregistering the volumetric and/or monetary amount of fuel dispensed, asfor example as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,448 of HarveyN. Bliss dated Apr. 12, 1960 and entitled Resetting Mechanism forCounters" and relates more particularly to a fuel pump register with anexpanded volumetric and/or monetary readout.

' The typical fuel pump register has a bank of resettable counters oneach of two opposite sides of the register with each bank comprisingupper and lower counters for respectively registering the monetary andvolumetric amounts of each fuel delivery. Such a register is shown inU.S. Pat. No. 2,814,444 of Harvey N. Bliss dated Nov. 26, 1957 andentitled Register? wherein both the money and volume counters are shownhaving three counter wheels for registering the monetary and volumetricamounts of each fuel delivery up to $9.99 and up to 99 9/l0 gallonsrespectively. However, because of the increasing cost of gasoline andthe use of larger fuel tanks, the monetary amount of a fuel delivery mayeasily exceed the maximum monetary readout of $9.99 provided by thestandard three-place register. For example, a delivery of 25 gallons ofgasoline having a unit volume price of 45 cents per gallon would cost$11.25, an amount in excess of the maximum monetary readout of $9.99 ofthe standard register.

It is therefore a principal aim of the present invention to provideconversion means for modifying existing registers to expand theavailable monetary readout and thereby provide for registering themonetary amount of larger fuel deliveries.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improvedregister change kit useful for expanding either the monetary orvolumetric readout of a standard register of the type disclosed anddescribed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,814,444 and 2,932,448.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a new andimproved register counter having an expanded available readout and yetsubstantially the same size asexisting register counterssuch that theimproved counter may be readily substituted for existing registercounters without additional modification of the register.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings of anillustrative application of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view, partly broken away and partly in section,showing a top plan view of a standard fuel pump register;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section view, partly broken away and partly insection, showing a cost counter of the register and additionally showinga tool useable in modifying the cost counter in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial elevation view, partly broken away and partly insection, showing the cost counter as modified in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged side and end views of a compound gear of themodified cost counter of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a section view, partly broken away and partly in section,taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 3.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings in detail wherein like numerals represent like parts throughoutthe several figures, in accordance with the present invention registerconversion means is provided for expanding the maximum availablemonetary or volumetric readout of a standard register 12 of the typeshown and described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,448.

As more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,448 the register 12comprises a frame with a pair of sideplates 14, 16 and two banks orpairs of vertically spaced counters having axially shiftable wheelsupporting shafts 20 mounted on the sideplates 14, 16. Three counterwheels are rotatably mounted on each of the shafts20 and the wheels areconnected by intermediate eight-tooth transfer pinions 25 rotatable onpinion shafts 26 extending parallel to the wheel shafts20. The uppercounter 2 7 of each bank is connected to be driven for registering thecost of the fuel delivered and the lower counter 28 of each bank isconnected to be driven for registering the volume of the fuel delivered.

The counter wheels are substantially identical excepting that the lowestorder counter wheels 29 of the volume counters 28 are provided on theirperipheral rims 32 with the sequence of indicia of zero-tenths throughnine-tenths inclusive, whereas the rims 32 of the remaining counterwheels 33 are provided with the sequence of indicia of zero through nineinclusive. Accordingly the cost counters 27 provide for registering thecost of a delivery from $0.00 through $9.99 and the volume counters 28provide for registering the volume of a delivery from 00 0/10 gallonsthrough 99 9/10 gallons.

Each of the counters wheels 29, 33 and a hub 36, a 20-tooth drive gear38 rotatably mounted on one end of the hub (at the right end of the hubas viewing the wheel when reading the counter), and (at the opposite endof the hub 36) a reset gear 42 rotatably mounted on the hub and acombination locking ring and two-tooth gear segment 46 integrally formedwith the hub. The transfer pinions 25 are engageably with the drivegears 38 and the combination locking ring and two-tooth segments 46 ofadjacent higher and lower order counter wheels respectively forgenerating transfers from each lower to the adjacent higher ordercounter wheel. The drive gears 38 of the lowest order counter wheels areconnected to be driven to rotate the volume and cost counters torespectively register the volume of the fuel delivered and the cost ofthe fuel delivered in accordance with the unit volume price of the fuelwhich is conventionally established by a settable variator (not shown)associated with the register.

The drive gears 38 are formed with serrations 50, and drive pawls 52pivotally mounted on the wheel hubs and spring biased into engagementwith serrations provide for selectively engaging the drive gears. Insimilar fashion the reset gears 42 are provided with pockets 54, andreciprocable plungers 60 mounted on the wheel hubs and actuated bypivotal pawls 64 provide for selective engagement of the reset gears.

The counter shafts 20 are provided with spaced annuluses 70 whichnormally receive the inwardly projecting ends of the pawls 52, 64 toprovide for engagement of the wheel drive gears 38 and disengagement ofthe reset gears 42. By axially displacing the counter shafts, the pawls52, 64 are pivoted to engage the reset gears and disengage the drivegears and thereby condition the counter wheels to be reset to zero withgears 72 meshing with the reset gears 42. The gears 72 are suitablydriven to rotate the counter wheels to zero (which is conventionallyaccomplished between fuel deliveries), and when each counter wheelreaches its zero or fully reset position the inner end of its pawl 64 isreceived within an axial slot 76 in the respective counter shaft todisengage the reset gear and also simultaneously lock the counter wheelagainst further rotation. In accordance with the present invention oneor both counters 27, 28 of each bank are adapted to be modified toexpand the maximum available readout of the counter. More particularlyin accordance with a preferred application of the present invention, theconversion means has special usefulness in expanding the maximum readoutof the register cost counter 27.

A standard cost counter 27 shown in FIG. 2 is shown modified in FIG. 3in accordance with the present invention to increase the maximumavailable readout of the cost counter from $9.99 to $14.99. The modifiedcost counter 80 incorporates a substitute highest order counter wheel 82constructed like counter wheels 29, 33 excepting that its rim 84 bearsthe sequence of indicia l4 and comprises an enlarged wheel drive gear 86rotatably mounted on its hub 36 (not shown). A substituted compound gear90 is mounted on the pinion shaft 26 for engagement with the wheel drivegear 86 and the combination locking ring and two-tooth gear segment 46of the adjacent lower order counter wheel 33. The substitute compoundgear 90 has a central cylindrical flange 92 and a relatively large.gear94 (on the right side of the flange 92 as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4) forengagement with the combination locking ring and gear segment 46. Thegear 94 has eight equiangularly spaced teeth with alternate mutilated orshortened teeth 96 adapted to clear the locking ring for engagement bythe two-tooth segment 98 only for generating transfers to the wheel 82as the adjacent lower order wheel 33 is indexed from its 9" to its 0"position. The compound gear 90 comprises a relatively small gear 100 (onthe left side of the central flange 92 as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4) whichengages the drive gear 86 of the wheel 82. The gear 100 also has eightequiangularly spaced teeth 102 aligned with the eight teeth of therelatively large gear 94, and the drive gear 86 has thirty teeth toprovide for indexing the wheel 82 one digit or one-fifteenth of arevolution when the two-tooth transfer segment 98 engages the gear 94 torotate the substitute compound gear 90 when the wheel 33 is indexed from9 to 0.

The standard cost counter 27 may be converted to an expanded costcounter 80 by replacing the highest order counter wheel 33 with thesubstitute wheel 82. For this purpose a tool 110 (shown in FIG. 2positioned on the outer reduced threaded end 112 of the counter shaftmay be used to facilitate withdrawing the counter shaft 20 (to the rightas seen in FIG. 2) sufficiently to permit removing the highest ordercounter wheel and then installing the substitute wheel 82 on the countershaft 20 by slipping it along the tool 110. Similarly the pinion shaft26 may be partially withdrawn to permit replacing the highest orderpinion 75 with the substitute compound gear 90. Consequently the costcounter 27 (and/or the volume counter 28) may be readily modified toexpand the maximum available readout of the counter as provided by thepresent invention.

The indicia 0-14 on the substitute wheel 82 have the same height whichis preferably sufficiently less than the height of the indicia on thenumber wheels 33 to provide adequate separation between the indicia0-14. Also for permitting maximum height of the indicia 0-14 anauxiliary mask insert 120 is mounted within the standard window opening122 of the register housing 130 to provide a smaller window opening forthe shorter indicia on the wheel 82. The auxiliary mask 120 ispreferably a single piece of integrally molded black plastic which maybe flexed slightly to position the mask within the window opening withits inner opposed flanges 124, 126 in engagement with the inner face ofthe sheet metal housing 130. A pair of side flanges 132, 134 of theauxiliary mask cooperate with the inner lips 124, 126 to retain theinsert in place. Thus, it can be seen that a conversion kit comprisingthe substitute wheel 82, the substitute compound gear 90 and theauxiliary mask 120 may be readily installed to convert a cost counter ora volume counter of a standard fuel pump register of the type describedto significantly increase the maximum available readout. Such a kit maybe used in the field to convert existing registers or such parts may beused in the original manufacture to provide for expanding the counterreadout without otherwise modifying the register.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, variousmodifications, adaptations and variations of the foregoing specificdisclosure can be made without departing from the teachings of thepresent invention. We claim:

1. Conversion means solely for use in expanding the readout of aresettable fuel pump register having at least one counter connected tobe driven during the delivery of fuel to provide a readout of the amountof the fuel delivery and resettable to zero between deliveries andincluding a counter shaft, a transfer pinion shaft extending parallel tothe counter shaft, at least two counter wheels of ascending ordermounted on the counter shaft having outer rims bearing the sequence ofindicia of 0 through 9, the adjacent counter wheels of relatively higherand lower order having disengageable reset gears for resetting thecounter wheels to zero and having respectively a disengageable wheeldrive gear and a combination locking ring and two-tooth transfersegment, the counter shaft being axially shiftable in one direction fordisengaging the wheel drive gear and engaging the reset gears forconditioning the counter wheels for being reset and axially shiftable inthe opposite direction for disengaging the reset gears and engaging thewheel drive gear for conditioning the counter wheels for counting, and atransfer pinion mounted on the transfer pinion shaft in engagement withthe wheel drive gear and combination locking ring and two-tooth transfersegment of the counter wheels for generating transfers from the lower tothe higher order counter wheel and providing with the transfer segmentand drive gear a 1:1 drive ratio between the wheels during transfers;the conversion means comprising a substitute counter wheel for saidhigher order counter wheel having an enlarged disengageable drive gear,a disengageable reset gear, the disengageable drive gear and reset gearof the substitute counter wheel being selectively engageable anddisengageable by the counter shaft by axially shifting the counter shaftin said one direction for disengaging the drive gear and engaging thereset gear for conditioning the substitute counter wheel for being resetand in said opposite direction for disengaging the reset gear andengaging the drive gear for conditioning the substitute counter wheelfor counting, and an outer rim hearing the sequence of indicia of 0through x where x is greater than 10; and a substitute compound gear forthe transfer pinion adapted to be mounted on the transfer pinion shaftand having a first relatively large gear engageable with the combinationtransfer segment and locking ring of said lower order counter wheel anda relatively small gear engageable with the enlarged drive gear of thesubstitute wheel; the compound gear, two-tooth transfer segment andenlarged drive gear of the substitute number wheel together providing a(x+l ):l0 reduction drive ratio during transfers.

2. Conversion means according to claim 1 wherein x is 14.

3. Conversion means according to claim 1 wherein said higher and lowerorder counter wheels and the substitute counter wheel have central hubsfor rotatably mounting the wheels on the counter shaft and wherein theaxial length of the hub of the substitute wheel is substantially equalto the axial length of the hub of said higher order counter wheel.

4. Conversion means according to claim 1 for use in expanding thereadout of a register having a counter mask with window openings for thecounter wheels respectively for displaying the counter readout, whereinthe indicia of the sub stitute wheel have a circumferential height lessthan the circumferential height of the indicia of said higher ordercounter wheel, and wherein the conversion means comprises an auxiliarymask adapted to be mounted on the register mask overlying the windowopening for said higher order counter wheel for reducing the window sizein conformity with the reduced circumferential height of the indicia ofthe substitute wheel. 5. Conversion means according to claim 4 whereinthe auxiliary mask comprises a unitary plastic insert having resilientlips for mounting the auxiliary mask in part within the window openingfor said higher order counter wheel.

6. Conversion means according to claim 1 wherein the relatively largeand small gears of the substitute compound gear have eight teeth andwherein said relatively large gear comprises alternate relatively longand short teeth such that both the relatively long and short teeth areengageable with the two-tooth transfer segment of the said lower ordercounter wheel for generating transfers to the substitute wheel and onlythe relatively long teeth are engageable with the locking ring forlocking the substitute compound gear between transfers.

7. Conversion means according to claim 6 wherein the teeth of therelatively small and large gears of the substitute compound gear are inaxial alignment.

l R l t II

1. Conversion means solely for use in expanding the readout of aresettable fuel pump register having at least one counter connected tobe driven during the delivery of fuel to provide a readout of the amountof the fuel delivery and resettable to zero between deliveries andincluding a counter shaft, a transfer pinion shaft extending parallel tothe counter shaft, at least two counter wheels of ascending ordermounted on the counter shaft having outer rims bearing the sequence ofindicia of 0 through 9, the adjacent counter wheels of relatively higherand lower order having disengageable reset gears for resetting thecounter wheels to zero and having respectively a disengageable wheeldrive gear and a combination locking ring and two-tooth transfersegment, the counter shaft being axially shiftable in one direction fordisengaging the wheel drive gear and engaging the reset gears forconditioning the counter wheels for being reset and axially shiftable inthe opposite direction for disengaging the reset gears and engaging thewheel drive gear for conditioning the counter wheels for counting, and atransfer pinion mounted on the transfer pinion shaft in engagement withthe wheel drive gear and combination locking ring and two-tooth transfersegment of the counter wheels for generating transfers from the lower tothe higher order counter wheel and providing with the transfer segmentand drive gear a 1:1 drive ratio between the wheels during transfers;the conversion means comprising a substitute counter wheel for saidhigher order counter wheel having an enlarged disengageable drive gear,a disengageable reset gear, the disengageable drive gear and reset gearof the substitute counter wheel being selectively engageable anddisengageable by the counter shaft by axially shifting the counter shaftin said one direction for disengaging the drive gear and engaging thereset gear for conditioning the substitute counter wheel for being resetand in said opposite direction for disengaging the reset gear andengaging the drive gear for conditioning the substitute counter wheelfor counting, and an outer rim bearing the sequence of indicia of 0through x where x is greater than 10; and a substitute compound gear forthe transfer pinion adapted to be mOunted on the transfer pinion shaftand having a first relatively large gear engageable with the combinationtransfer segment and locking ring of said lower order counter wheel anda relatively small gear engageable with the enlarged drive gear of thesubstitute wheel; the compound gear, two-tooth transfer segment andenlarged drive gear of the substitute number wheel together providing a(x+1):10 reduction drive ratio during transfers.
 2. Conversion meansaccording to claim 1 wherein x is
 14. 3. Conversion means according toclaim 1 wherein said higher and lower order counter wheels and thesubstitute counter wheel have central hubs for rotatably mounting thewheels on the counter shaft and wherein the axial length of the hub ofthe substitute wheel is substantially equal to the axial length of thehub of said higher order counter wheel.
 4. Conversion means according toclaim 1 for use in expanding the readout of a register having a countermask with window openings for the counter wheels respectively fordisplaying the counter readout, wherein the indicia of the substitutewheel have a circumferential height less than the circumferential heightof the indicia of said higher order counter wheel, and wherein theconversion means comprises an auxiliary mask adapted to be mounted onthe register mask overlying the window opening for said higher ordercounter wheel for reducing the window size in conformity with thereduced circumferential height of the indicia of the substitute wheel.5. Conversion means according to claim 4 wherein the auxiliary maskcomprises a unitary plastic insert having resilient lips for mountingthe auxiliary mask in part within the window opening for said higherorder counter wheel.
 6. Conversion means according to claim 1 whereinthe relatively large and small gears of the substitute compound gearhave eight teeth and wherein said relatively large gear comprisesalternate relatively long and short teeth such that both the relativelylong and short teeth are engageable with the two-tooth transfer segmentof the said lower order counter wheel for generating transfers to thesubstitute wheel and only the relatively long teeth are engageable withthe locking ring for locking the substitute compound gear betweentransfers.
 7. Conversion means according to claim 6 wherein the teeth ofthe relatively small and large gears of the substitute compound gear arein axial alignment.